PARENT VERSUS CHILD STRESS IN DIVERSE FAMILY TYPES - AN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH

Differences in level of overall stress and the proportion of child- ve rsus parent-related stress among several different family types were i nvestigated. An ecological framework was used to delineate the predict ors of stress for the different family types. Participants were 29 sin gle-parent families, 35 two-parent families, 17 families of children w ith Down syndrome, 16 families of children with hearing impairment, an d 29 families of children with developmental delay. The results indica te that family stress and ecological variables predictive of family st ress varied among these families. Intervention and therapy efforts may be improved by understanding the locus of stressors among these famil y types.